Week 9

September 6, 2011


The Big Apple. 

I am alive!!! haha. hi everybody! sorry i didn't email yesterday, the library was closed because of labor day! 

that's really weird that you didn't hear from president nelson. we wrote a letter at the mission home monday and they were going to send it to you. maybe it's just late or something! but i'm doing really good!

everyone here says the hurricane was a let down haha. there were a lot of big trees blown over but that was

really the extent of the damage. so no, i haven't done one bit of clean up! 

wow the first day was crazy. president nelson and the AP's met us at the airport. i LOVE my AP, elder carnohan. he is such a stud! i love him. then we went and did street contacting by the mall which was quite the
experience... haha. it was kind of scary! but fun. then we went to the mission home and ate dinner with the nelsons. they are wonderful! very laid back but they take the job seriously! i love president nelson. i am very sad that they leave in june! he is a great man. the power was out at the mission home because of the hurricane so we had a candle ligth fireside. it was fun. so we slept there that night and then the next day we went to the mission office and met our companions! my companion is Elder Jacob Parker. he is from mountain view, california. he's pretty cool! then we got to work!

it was/still is very weird being in the world again. music everywhere, people cussing, it was a shock. haha the mtc was like it's own little world! but it's good. i extended a baptismal commitment that very night! Olman, the investigator didn't accept but it was memorable haha. but don't worry, next day i got the bap commit! his name is
Francisco! he is so ready to be baptized. he's 57 and wants salvation. the problem we are having is that he works on sundays. :( so he is going to talk to his boss to try and get his schedule changed. so hopefully that works out! 

baptism is an addiction! i wake up every morning and say i want to baptize! it's crazy!!! baptism!!!! haha i'm a psycho i know, but that's why i'm here! to invite others to come unto christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, BAPTISM, recieving the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. i love it. this is so fun. 

i have blisters on my feet from walking around all day and i don't even care! we have quite a few investigators right now, we'll see how many of them pan out. we had a family that had a baptismal date but then we found out that they weren't married..... so we're trying to work through that. it's hard. from what i have seen, in the spanish

culture marriage really doesn't matter. they love each other a ton, the have kids, they're faithful, but they just don't see why marriage matters. it's tough. 

oh my area! haha i don't know if i should tell you..... Just kidding mommy!!! my area is Jamaica, Queens! (where the bishop called me from a few months ago!!) i'll be honest, it's pretty hood! we have two sets of projects in our area and we work them both! the south jamaica houses and the baisley projects. pretty cool huh? the rapper, 50 cent, was born in the baisley projects so was the singer nikki monague (spelling?). 50 cent was also shot in our area once haha. mom it's totally safe don't worry. i love it here. for the first time in my life i am the minority! it is a very strange experience to get on the bus and have 40 black people staring at you. haha it's so fun! i have seen a bunch of my friends here! elder monte campbell from stake youth council is in my area and his trainer is nate gootee who i went to school with! and also marc cabinilla is in my mission too! we played baseball together and he went to timpview. pretty fun stuff.

i'm loving it out here. doing real work is the best. it's so much better than the mtc. i liked the mtc, don't get
me wrong, but this is way better. my spanish is... ok. understanding people is the hardest part! especially domincans! phew! but it's getting better. i'm participating in lessons and it's good.

we have a new 12 week training program that they just instituted which is pretty good. it has the trainee doing certain tasks every week. 

i'm trying to remember your emails.... everything is good. i'm going to email megan some pictures. it'll be easier for her to get them on her computer i think... are you ever going to get the computer fixed or get a new one? how is everything? keep me updated on the daley life! pops i want to hear about uncle laynes story so give me the details! 

ok i'm going to give you my addresses now.   this address is the address of my apartment. ONLY
send letters here.  

88-20 Parsons Blvd. 

Jamaica, NY 11432. 

 
 you can even just send the letters to the mission office. whatever you want. they will just forward them to me. packages and stuff should probably be sent to the mission office cause we aren't really at the apartment ever. so yeah.   that address is:

85-69 60th
Drive. Elmhurst, NY 11373   

i love you guys so much! my p-day is monday! 

oh mom. so i got here and i can only find 2 of my short sleeve shirts... i don't know what happened. so i'm not sure what to do. what do you think? email me before you take action. a couple spare garment bottoms in the next package would be welcomed, whenever that comes, no rush. and also food is always welcomed :) 

i love you all! i'll email again next monday! do you want me to write a letter every week too? let me know. I LOVE YOU!!!!  

I'm Elder Matthew Daley. 

I baptize.

I'm a mormon. 

(like the
mormon.org [1] videos ;)

haha i love you! talk to you next week. hope all is well!